Flex Future

The quarantine imposed due to COVID 19, has affirmed the necessity of,and benefits for, working at home. Just last week, Twitter announced "If our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen.”  

We have also seen that not all jobs are suitable for “remote work”. What happens for the people who need flexibility but are in jobs that don’t offer it? And, now that we are faced with social distancing for the near future, how can we adapt our work day, and possibly our school day, to make the necessary changes for health and productivity.  

Flex time does not just mean working from home.  Flex time is a range of options that work for the company and for the employee.  Options include remote work, split shifts where you work in the morning, take midday off and go back to work later in the day, job sharing between two people, a compressed work week with longer hours but fewer days, a completely flexible schedule where you decide when to work, or a flex schedule where a set alternate time is followed.  Some companies don’t focus on your time but only on the results.  

Each option has pros and cons, and some are more suitable to a particular business, or person, while others are not. Companies need to consider the range of possibilities to find the ones that work for the nature of the business and the needs of the employees.  Why?  A few reasons:

·      In his 2005 memo to Microsoft, “The New World of Work,” Bill Gates predicted: “Companies that give extra flexibility to their employees will have the edge.”  

·      Of 1000 knowledge workers polled in the UK, 52% of them said flexi-time beat out bonus packages as the number-one motivational job perk.  We have seen a lot of technological advances that have benefit companies, but workers have not seen a consistent benefit in a way that recognizes their most precious, non-renewable commodity, time.

·      47% of working adults in their 40’s and 50’s are in the “sandwich generation”, caring for both dependent children and aging parents.  

·      There is a good chance that schools won’t be back to business as normal next fall, with discussions of modified school schedules.

·     Millennials place such a high value on work life balance and expect flexibility, that it is estimated that by about 2030, the Millennial majority will likely have redefined the 9-to-5 workday entirely.

Work as we know it is rapidly changing due to safety concerns. Flexibility can be the key both to a company staying in businesses and to employees staying with a company for the long haul. 

Technology Matters, but Culture Makes the Difference

Kayla Crays, Director of Systems & Operations, did not know four years ago that she was on a path that would prepare her company to thrive in our current pandemic conditions.  

She began as support staff for a wealth advisor, with the intent of becoming an advisor herself.  Around that same time, a new CEO took the helm.  He had a strong vision for the company.  The environment was not a healthy one when the CEO took the role.  There was a lack of trust between the managers and the people they supervised. Management had a poor track record of getting back to employees with updates and information, or of inviting in employees in the decision making.  

Through his experience as a thought leader in corporate and private business, the CEO knew that culture mattered.  As a change agent he understood the power of the individual and the force of a team. He believes information is power and created an environment of transparency and authenticity. The company invests in staff development, with quarterly off-site meetings and an annual all-staff retreat.   The staff has fun together, with holiday parties and crab fests. There is a leadership training program for directors and managers, and professional development for associates. The phrase “When you grow, we grow” has deep meaning and life to it.  As a result, staff contribute for the good of themselves and the good of the organization.  

Kayla found herself on the front line of updating the ancient and outdated systems for the company. Her position has evolved to where she is the Director of Systems and Operations, a role she defines daily to meet the needs of the company.  Updating the company infrastructure included identifying and implementing 

·      A new Client Relationship Management (CRM) system

·      A virtual private network. (VPN) allows employees to access the company private network through shared or public networks.

·      A new phone system (Ring Central) 

·      A communications archiving and monitoring solution (Global Relay to be in compliance with federal, state and local regulations.

·      A team collaboration system (Microsoft Teams)

·      Updating manual processes for efficiency and effectiveness, 

·      Updating reporting expectations and capabilities

The company did not previously have a work-from-home policy.   In fact, when a team member couldn’t find an after-school care solution for her daughter and asked for a modified schedule, it was the first time that management grappled with the options.  The prevailing mindset that the company was client facing and must be physically present prevented them from exploring any alternative work options for staff.

While the employee left the company, that was the start of many conversations to consider what it might look like to work from home.  In February the organization was maintaining a watchful eye on COVID 19 and its impact to other countries, and they realized they needed to get ready for the very real possibility that all staff would need to work from home. They had to work out a communication plan and some logistical details, but the technology was in place, the team was strong, and they were ready.  

Asked if she had any advice for companies scrambling to set up effective work at home practices, Kayla offered the following tips:

1.     Leadership matters.  When leadership is consistent in their messaging, they inspire confidence in the organization, and people respond accordingly. 

2.     Business is changing, even more rapidly than we may have thought.  Be open to the change and change with it. 

3.     Listen to employees.  

When it came time to make sure that the staff could transition to working at home two weeks ago, all hands were on deck, with suggestions for success coming from a variety of people and lenses.  As a result, there were no big gaps in the transition to working from home.  Clients continued to receive the same high level of responsiveness and service. 

The staff have been working from home two weeks, and the team is finding its rhythm working from home.  Their remote practice includes: 

·      all internal meetings have been maintained as virtual meetings

·      team meetings are especially important now to check in with team members to see how they are doing

·      on-going use of Microsoft Teams to collaborate 

·      bi-monthly firm-wide virtual meetings to make sure that we maintain transparency between management and associates.  The added bonus is getting to see everyone in the firm during these meeting to maintain the sense of connection.

The company’s (not mentioned by name due to SEC restrictions) experience shows that technology matters, but culture makes the difference.  If you are finding challenges to employees working from home, be patient.  The technology is the easy part; the culture is what will help you thrive during these challenging times.  

Concurrence Consulting works with individuals and teams to improve individual performance, team dynamics and operational practices. When these three concentrations are working well, flex practices such as working from home have a higher rate of success. Questions or comments?  Contact Kathy@ConcurrenceConsulting.com

Connecting Clubs with Video Conferencing

How do you bring 15 people together while maintaining six feet apart?

I found out with when Timberline Toastmasters club hosted its first online meeting Tuesday. It was a great success.  

As more teams, clubs, groups, families, and friends move to online meetings, I want to share the tips that helped create a successful experience.

Before the meeting

The club president, Joyce Feustel provided the club members with a set of guidelines in advance of the meeting. This included everything from how to log in to Zoom to how the meeting would differ from our in-person meetings. She provided great detail to what would happen in the meeting.  This was in addition to the regular meeting agenda that is prepared for each meeting.

In the beginning of the meeting

Joyce did a quick tutorial on the site that included how to mute and unmute your microphone, how to message the group and how to message an individual.  

Great tip: Everyone’s microphone remains on mute unless you are the person speaking.  This really helps to have people listen to each person and not have people speaking over each other. 

We agreed we would not eat in the meeting so that no one would be caught with their mouth full.  This was something I had not previously considered as I have been in many working meetings, but it has a different feel over video. 

 During the meeting

Fellow toastmaster and sergeant at arms Joshua George provided more specific video conferencing tips for effective communication in virtual meetings: 

·      When is your turn to speak, Introduce yourself.  This is particularly helpful when there are a lot of people in the meeting, when people don’t know each other or if not everyone is using the video function.  

·      Use your voice, not your eyes. The meeting host/facilitator calls on attendees by name to speak.  This prevents everyone responding at once, or people hesitating because they don’t know whose turn it is to speak. 

·      As a facilitator, guide the conversation.   Open ended questions such as "any comments or any questions” can lead to people talking over each other or silence.  Ask each person for their response in sequence. Be sure to ask each person in attendance. 

·      Prepare responses  that you can use for interruptions or someone goes off track. when you talk at the same time as someone else). Example:  Great question, Henry.  We will get to that at the end of this session. Would you note that in Chat so that we don’t miss it. 

 After the meeting

You may want to allow time before and after the meeting for people to connect outside of the agenda just as they do when they attend a meeting. 

If you have recorded the meeting you can share the file with your participants. 

In summary

Our regular toastmaster meeting is a highly structured efficient meeting. This online meeting was no different.  The club members all expressed appreciation for being able to meet and continue our personal and professional development. 

I have used zoom for my one on one coaching sessions with clients.  Working with a larger group requires new skills that I am happy to learn.  I am grateful to Toastmasters for providing me with this opportunity.  

Another tip 

Yesterday I had a zoom meeting in which the other person’s video kept freezing.   With the current increased demand you may find limitations to your internet and your screen may freeze.  Make sure you have a photo in your profile.  If your video freezes, stop video and Zoom will default to your profile photo so that you don’t have a goofy image of you on the screen.   

That call underscored how we will continue to bump into new modifications these days. Patience and humor are helpful accompaniments to any meeting.